NHS Success Regime

Heidi Alexander Excerpts
Thursday 4th June 2015

(9 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Gummer Portrait Ben Gummer
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I thank my right hon. Friend for that, and he has got to the nub of the point in a way that the shadow Secretary of State did not. This is about patient care and the excellence we expect from it. That is precisely why I agree with him that success regimes will be successful only if we ensure that we are improving patient care, and that might well include improving access to care at a local level.

Heidi Alexander Portrait Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)
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I am confused: the NHS success regime is not about success—it is about failure. Will the Minister confirm that services in the areas affected are delivering safe care? Should patients be worried?

Ben Gummer Portrait Ben Gummer
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The hon. Lady should not be confused because the success regime is indeed dealing with local failure and we intend to turn it into a success. That is the point of what we are doing. We have made these decisions where the NHS has assessed areas as having quality and financial problems. We intend to address them rather than just talk about them, which is why I am so glad that this will be locally led, finding local solutions to local problems.